In some of the best childrenâ??s books, dandelions turn into stars, sharks and radishes merge, and pancakes fall from the sky. No one would confuse these magical tales for descriptions of nature. Small children can differentiate between â??the real world and the imaginary world,â? as psychologist Alison Gopnik has written. They just â??donâ??t see any particular reason for preferring to live in the real one.â?